Spring construction



sept. 11, 1934. D Q 'SHANNQN 1,973,157"

SPRING CONSTRUCTION gva/vento@ olza/d idf/zalman Sept. 1l, 1934.

D. G. SHANNON 1,973,157 SPRING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 14, 1930 sept. 11,1934. A D, G, SHANNON' 1973,15?

SPRING CONSTRUCTION Filed May`14, 1930 s sheets-sheet, s

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Patented Sept. 11, 1934 narran srAres SPRING CONSTRUCTION Donald G.Shannon, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Shannon Spring Bed ManufacturingCo.,

Louisville, Ky.

Application May 14, 1930, Serial No. 452,352

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a bed spring of an improved construction.

An object of this invention is to produce a more comfortable andluxurious bottom for mattresses and the like.

A further object is to attain ease of manufacture and assembly of thevarious elements of the construction. l

A further object is to construct a spring in which a minimum of materialmay be used.

Other objects of my present invention will be apparent to those skilledin the art from the following description and appended claims.

In the drawings accompanying the description,

Fig. 1 is a top view of a portion of my novel spring mattress. Sinceboth ends and both sides of the spring are identical only a portion ofthe entire mattress is shown,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the structure as viewed from the bottom of Fig.1,

Fig. 3 is an end view of the mattress as viewed from the right of Fig.l,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken immediately above the lower set ofsprings as indicated by the line 4*-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, n

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 'l is a sectional View on of the specic means of attaching thecross connecting springs to the springs in the top deck of thestructure.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawings.A rectangular frame is provided consisting of side bars 1 formedpreferably of angle iron and a plurality of cross bars 2 each cross barbeing formed of a flat metal strip fastened at its ends 3 to the sidebars 1 by a rivet 4. The cross bars 2 are equally spaced and serve tosupport the spring structure.

The spring structure consists primarily of a lower deck of spiralsprings 5 of the well known singlecone shape, relatively few in numberand van upper deck of spiral springs 6 of the same shape and relativelylarge in number. The springs 5 are made of fairly heavy wire, while thesprings 6 are made of thinner wire.

The springs 5 in the lower deck are equally spaced and arranged inlongitudinal and transverse rows, each transverse row being mounted onone of the cross bars 2. Each spring 5 of one of the longitudinal rowsis fastened to a cross bar 2 by a wire 'l being looped about the anenlarged scaleV lower coil of each spring 5 and around its associ-` atedbar 2 in the manner as shown in Fig. 2. The wire 7 extends the length ofthe frame and secures each spring 5 of that particular longitudinal rowto its respective cross bar 2 in the manner illustrated. Eachlongitudinal row of springs 5 is likewise secured to the cross bars 2 bya wire 7.

The top coils of the springs 5 in the lower deck are joined by theconnecting elements 8 aligned at approximately 45 degrees from the majoraxis of the construction. These connecting elements 8 do not cross thetops of the springs 5 but simply extend across the space between thesesprings and are attached to the springs 5 as will be described below.The elements 8 may be made either of flat or round wire. 1t will be seenthat Vthe elements V8 occur in pairs which cross each other at their midpoints. These elements may be joined at these points 8 by some suitablefastening means.

VA border frame 9 is provided for the lower deck of springs and isattached to the top coils of the springs 5 on the outside of thestructure by wires 10 which are looped around the border frame 9 and thetop coil oi each spring 5 on the outside of the lower deck. Usually onewire 10 is provided for each side of the construction.

Each spring 5 supports four smaller springs 6. Each one of these springs6 is attached to a spring 5 at equally spaced points around the top coilthereof. The point of attachment in each case is at the point where oneof the connecting elements 8 is attached to the spring 5 and fortheoutside row of springs 6 at points diametrically opposed to wheresaid elements 8 are attached except for the springs adjacent each cornerspring. These spring-s are attachedat points degrees removed from thepoints named. This particular rela# tionship` may be more Aclearlyunderstood from the showing in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

The lower coil of each spring 6 on the inside of the structure isattached to the upper coil of each spring 5 by the connecting elements 8being looped through the lower coil of the spring 6 and around the wireof the top coil of spring 5 as shown in Fig. 5.

The lower coil of each spring 6 on the outer edge of the structureexcept that of the corner spring is attached to its respective spring 5by wires 1l each wire 11 being used to fasten two adjacent springs 5 totheir respective springs 5. Each end of the wire ll is looped around thelower coil of spring 6 and the wire of the top coil of spring 5 asindicated in Fig. 5. The mid portion 0f each wire l1 lies parallel tothe sides of the border' frame 9 and is kept in position by the wirepassing above and below said wire 11 as indicated in Fig. 4. Each cornerspring 6 is attached to its spring 5 by a single wire 13 which may be offlat or round wire, this wire being looped around the lower coil ofspring 6 and the wire of the top coil of spring 5.

It is contemplated that for the fastening means referred to viz members'7, 8, 11 and 13 either flat or round wires may be used. Thus it will benoted that the bottom coil of each spring 5 and 6 in theV entire springconstruction is fastened to its support in exactly the same manner. Thislgreatly simplilies the assembly of the structure.

The arrangement shown affords a particularly simple means or attachingboth the connecting elements 8 and the springs 6 to the top coils ofsprings 5. Thus, each support foreach coil 6 is formed of but two partsviz a wire of the top coil of spring 5 and the wire or connectingelement 8. Since these elements 8 are not a-continuous strip across theentire structure but are discontinuous, extending merely across thespace between the springs 5, the top coils of springs 5 are permitted toflex freely in any direction from their normal plane.

The upper border frame 12 is provided for the upper deck of springs 6.This border frame is attached to the top Vcoils of the springs 6 on theoutside of the structure by a wire 14 being looped around the frame 9and the top coil of each spring 6 as indicated in Fig. 1. Usually onewire la is rovided for each side of the spring construction.

It will be noted that the arrangement of the springs in both the lowerand upper decks is such as to present points of attachment for theborder frames at the corners of the construction as well as at the sidesand ends.

The top coils of the springs 6 are joined by helical springs 15. Springs15 are merely illustrated schematically in Fig. 1. In detail, theyconsist of the structure illustrated in Fig. 7. These springs 15 arelikewise aligned at 45 degrees to the major axis of the construction.They are attached to the top coil of each spring 6 and extend across thespace between these coils. These springs 15 likewise occur in pairswhich cross each other at these mid points.

The springs 15 are attached to the springs 6 in the manner illustratedin Fig. 7. A clip 16 is provided for each spring 15 on the respectivesprings 6. This clip is made of spring material and is provided withratchet-shaped shoulders'l?. These shoulders 17 are spaced so as toconform Y.lith the pitch of the coils of the helical spring 15. Theextension 18 of the clip 16 embraces the wire of the top coil of springA6 and is retained on spring 6 in this manner. To attach the springs 15they are simply pushed into place. The two sides of the clip 16 yieldsuihciently to allow the successive coils of the spring 1'5 to pass overthe shoulders 17. The top coil of spring 6 acts as a stop for the coil15. The coils of the spring 15 engage behind the shoulders 17 making itnecessary to rotate the spring 15 in the proper direction in order toremove it from the clip 16. Thus the springs 15 are easily andsecurelyattached to the springs 6.

1t will be noted that in the arrangement shown the top coils of springs6 overlap the borders of the top coils ci the lower springs 5 so as 'toclose up the surface of the spring work very completely. This results ina very comfortable and desirable construction.

Various changes may be made in this embodiment o my invention as will beapparent to those skilled in the art within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:l

1. A spring construction including a lower deck of spiral springs, saidsprings being arranged in spaced longitudinal and transverse rows,connecting elements connecting the top coil of each spring with the topcoil of each adjacent spring aligned at substantially 45 degrees to saidlongitudinal and transverse rows, said connecting elements extendingonly across the space between said springs, an upper deck of spiralsprings, one of the springs of said upperfdeck being supported on eachtop coil of the springs in said lower deck at each point where saidconnecting elements are attached to said top coils and connectingmembers between the top coils of said upper deck of spiral springs.

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the springs in saidupper deck are secured to said top coils by said connecting elements.

3. A spring construction including a lower deck of springs in spacedlongitudinal and transverse arrangement, a plurality of spiral springsconstituting an upper deck of springs, elements crossing each otherconnecting the top coils of contiguous springs in said lower deck, saidcrossed elements being discontinuous within the circumferences lof thetop coils of the springs of said lower deck, and at the points'ofintersection thereof withY said top coils forming elements oi support incoaction with said top coils for said plurality of spiral springs ofsaid upper deck. and connecting means between the top coils of saidupperdeck of springs.

4. A spring construction including a lower deck of spiral springs inspacel longitudinal and transverse arrangement, short connectors joiningthe top coil of each of said springs to the top coils of neighboringsprings, each connector terminating adjacent its connections with saidtop coils, a

plurality of spiral springs constituting an upper g' deck of springs,each of said top coils having fastened to it the bottom coils of aplurality of said upper deckof springs, said bottom coils beingsuppo-rted jointly by said top coils and said connectors, andmeansconnecting the top coils of said l .-1-

upper deck of springs together.V

DONALD G. SHANNON.

